October 2/09 10:08 am - Cross on the Rock Updates - B.C.

Posted by Editoress on 10/2/09

Now in their 6th year, the Cross on the Rock Series re-joins Cycling BC for a 6 race (and one non-race Single Speed event) series for 2009. Each event is hosted by a local club giving a unique flavour to the series and the courses. This year features three new venues, four new courses and some tweaks to previous courses....nothing exactly the same as before.

This grassroots series is open to everyone; Islanders and non-Islanders, licence holders and non!

What licence do I need to race the Series? Any licence and even no licence will work! Here are the options:

1. UCI licence with Road/CX2. Citizen licence with Road/CX3. Or a $10 one-event purchased on site.

If you have only a MTB licence, phone the Cycling BC office to add CX for $10, or forms will be available on site at registration.

Categories Offered:A bit different from the BC Cup categories, this Series offers Beginner Men and Women, Intermediate, Expert & Master 35+ Men, and Open Women. Categories are all self-seeding with no licence restrictions.

Oak Bay bikes in Nanaimo is CLOSING their store on Sunday so that they can concentrate all their efforts on presenting a great course in a new venue. Corey Piket from Oak Bay bikes has been doing lap after lap after lap getting the exact location of every flagging pole to optimize the course.....it is going to be great! All the details will be posted in the race guide....so check it out!

Oak Bay bikes would also like to challenge any other shop in the UNIVERSE to have more shop employees racing this Sunday than they do. Try to beat them!

$$$ for Nationals

We have $200 each for the top Expert Man and the Top open women that can show us that they are going to nationals. Action Motorcylces wants to help out with your travel expenses as part of their sponsorship of the series. Lets see some good fights for the cash!

Girls. Girls. Girls!

We NEED more girls out there racing!! We REALLY want to try to get an intermediate women's category in the future...but if we only have 11 girls racing in total it is hard to justify. So drag, pull or push a girl out to race. Beginner or open! Come on girls!! Come on!!

Change in the Series Points Structure

I have changed the points structure for the series this year.....I KNOW it was not published for the first event....BUT I think it will be better. Check it out in the race guide. I hope everyone likes it better.

This week I am going to give you some tips to help you find seconds that I call "free shave time" - time shaved off your laps at no physical cost. No extra intervals, no extra ride time, no extra stairs. Easy peezy lemon squeezy. You just have to focus on a few key things during the race that will shave seconds here and there. It doesn't sound very helpful but lets do the math: if you can shave 1 second off every corner and there are 20-30 corners every lap and you race 6 laps that can take up to 3 minutes off your race. Did I mention no extra intervals?

1 - Back off the brakes! There is a reason disc brakes didn't take off in cross....its because they slow you down too much! Practice going through corners with no braking. Try to carry your speed through the corner. In other words, scrub your speed before you get to it, maintain a comfortable speed through the corner, look through the corner and beyond, then stand up and power OUT of the corner. Punch it every. single. time. Don't get lazy.

2 - Draft, it really does make a difference. If there is someone in front of you, stay as close to their wheel as possible. If they are just out of reach, make a HUGE effort to get top that wheel because it will be worth it in the long run. With all the powering you will be doing out of corners, take the rest when you can get it. When you decide to pass (and drop) that person you are drafting off, make sure you can do it decisively.

3 - Choose your lines wisely. Downhillers are always looking for seconds. They walk the course and examine every potential line before they even pull out their bike. Cross racers don't usually have this luxury so make sure you pay attention when you pre-ride the course. Look for the fastest lines into and out of the corners. The smoothest lines aren't always the fastest. Don't be afraid to test out a few lines in a difficult section of the course. Get a buddy to ride side by side through a section to see what is quicker.

4 - Know when to dismount. Be smart about when you dismount. Is it faster to ride or run? Let me make that more clear - is it faster for YOU to ride or run ? (not the expert you just saw power through the sand or bunny hop over a barrier). Make sure you dismount BEFORE you have scrubbed all your speed. If you carry your speed INTO an obstacle (stairs, hill, sand pit) you will be able to move through/over/up that obstacle and carry that speed OUT of that obstacle. If you misjudge your dismount you could end up in a dead stop, losing a lot of time as you pick yourself up out of the sand.